Miltonduff Distillery

Miltonduff was officially founded in 1824, a year after licenced whisky production became legal. Andrew Peary and Robert Bain added the ‘duff’ to the distillery’s name as part of this shift in status when they acquired a licence. An illicit distillery which had operated at this site in Elgin in the Speyside region in years past simply went by Milton. The Duff family had purchased the land this farm distillery was on before Peary and Bain acquired their licence. During the 19th century Miltonduff was known to practice triple distillation. Despite the extra time this took, the distillery operated with great success.

The most important point in MIltonduff’s history came in 1936 when it was bought by Hiram Walker to supply malt for Ballantine’s, which it still has an important relationship with. Hiram Walker gave George Ballantine & Sons, a subsidiary company, operation of the distillery.

For a period of sixteen years in the 60s and 70s the distillery was equipped with a pair of straight-necked Lomond stills. These have adjustable plates inside the neck which allow greater control of the whisky character made in the still. Ballantines decommissioned them in 1981 and replaced them with two traditional copper pot stills.Those Lomond stills were used to make a single malt which went by Mosstowie. This is, obviously, no longer in production, but there are still some bottles of it floating around.

Allied Lyons bought control of Hiram Walker, and thus, Miltonduff, over two years in 1986-87. The current owners are Chivas Brothers, under the aegis of their parent company Pernod Ricard. They acquired ownership of Miltonduff in 2005 when they bought Allied Domecq.

In 1974 Miltonduff underwent significant reconstruction and expansion which saw its production capacity leap. Today the distillery is equipped with an 8 ton mash tun, 16 stainless steel washbacks, and six traditional stills. Together these give it a total production capacity of 5.8 million litres of spirits a year.

The only official bottling from Miltonduff widely available today is a 15 year old released in 2017 as part of the Ballantine’s brand. This mostly consists of blends, but Chivas Brothers recently decided to feature some of their lesser known distilleries. Aside from Miltonduff, it also features single malts from Glenburgie and Glentauchers.

Aged in American Oak ex-Bourbon casks, the Ballantine’s Miltonduff 15 year old is a sweet whisky with aromas of peaches, honey and a light spice. On the tongue it stays sweet with peach again, and other fruit, along with chocolate, vanilla, and more spice. The finish is long and warm, slightly spicy and with notes of honey. There are also a wide range of independent bottlings, particularly from Douglas Laing and Gordon & McPhail.